Figures from Euro-Med Monitor estimate that Israel’s renewed aggression against the besieged Strip has seen the occupational force detain at least 3,000 civilians.
Following the abduction of an infant Palestinian girl from the Gaza Strip by an Israeli soldier, Palestine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has denounced the kidnapping as the most heinous crime and called on Israel for her immediate safe return.
In a series of posts via X on Monday, Muhammad Shehada, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor’s Communications Chief, exposed Israel’s media for glorifying the abduction of the unidentified Palestinian infant by Captain Harel Itach.
In since-deleted posts from Israel’s Army Radio uploaded by Shehada, Itach is revealed to have abducted the infant from the besieged Strip, which his army has indiscriminately decimated. It is thought that her parents have been killed amid Israel’s onslaught.
According to Middle East Monitor, Itach has died, and the whereabouts of Palestine’s abducted infant girl now remain unknown.
In response, via a communique addressed to Israel on X, Palestine’s Foreign Ministry has said that this instance is further proof of the occupying forces’ genocidal and expansionist aspirations.
Her kidnapping, “deepens our conviction that the occupation army is committing the most horrific crimes of genocide, abuse, direct killing, and kidnapping against defenceless civilians,” Palestine’s MoFA statement said.
The ministry is especially concerned for her welfare, given the clandestine nature by which she was taken.
“What is the child’s health condition? Is she receiving necessary medical attention?” MoFA asked.
In addition to calling on Israel for transparency on the child’s condition, MoFA’s communique “calls on the Israeli side to quickly answer these and other questions and officially hand over the child to the Palestinian National Authority immediately.”
In a news release on December 26, Euro-Med estimated that at least 3,000 Palestinian civilians, including women and children, have been abducted from their homes and shelters in Gaza by the occupation.
“The Israeli army has been detaining hundreds of Palestinians in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza City. Among them are dozens of women who were taken to Yarmouk Stadium, where they had their veils removed and were searched by soldiers,” the news release said.
Euro-Med added that among the males unlawfully detained, some are as young as ten and as old as 70, or even older. Israel is also inflicting humiliation upon them, by forcing them to remove their clothing, except for their underwear.
International human rights watchdog Amnesty International‘s Crisis Investigation team have surveyed and verified photographs and footage of unlawfully held Palestinian detainees experiencing torture and humiliation.
Worse still, on December 5, Physicians for Human Rights Israel confirmed that since October 7, six Palestinians died while in Israeli detention.
Amnesty has called for an urgent investigation into Israel’s breach of international law.
“All those detained arbitrarily must be released,” said Amnesty’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Heba Morayef.
“Israel has an appalling track record of impunity for violations by its forces, underscoring the urgent need for an independent effective investigation into all deaths in custody,” she added.
